Satellite modems to be used in 1,111 polling centres
The Independent Electoral and Boundaries Commission (IEBC) will use satellite modems to transmit the presidential election results in the 1,111 polling stations that have no internet connection.
During a simulation of the presidential results transmission at the Bomas of Kenya yesterday, the electoral agency’s Secretary Marjan Hussein Marjan said the use of alternative technology would guarantee credible results.
“We provided GPS locations to the Communications Authority of Kenya about all our polling stations. However, they responded by saying that 1,111 polling stations are out of 3G or 4G networks.
As a commission we have decided to use alternative technology-Satellite modems,” said Marjan.
Stakeholders have asked the electoral commission to consider including a section where total votes can be written in words to compliment the one indicated in the figures. United Democratic Alliance (UDA) Secretary-General Veronica Maina questioned how the commission would identify from which tablet a Form 34A is coming given that some 1,111 polling stations are out of 3G or 4G network.
According to the Commission’s Director of Information and Communications Technology Michael Ouma, each form will be encrypted to the Kenya Integrated Elections Management System (KIEMS) tablet at the polling station.
“Each form will be encrypted to the tablet. This will enable us to prove which form is from which tablet. Each tablet has two sim cards. Safaricom will be primary while the secondary sim card Airtel and Telkom will be selected based on the strength of its signals,” said Ouma.
“The law requires that the simulation and testing of the technology should be done 60 days before the election. We are testing the technology to be used in the results transmission in August,” said Marjan (pictured).
Marjan said the ballot papers to be used in the August elections will have at least nine to 10 security features while the Forms to be used for collating results will also have a similar number of security features.
